A Questing We Go!
by chikadee-pan
Summary: with my syoc form  indians, pirates, fairies, lost kids, and the occasional mermaid go and search the never before seen places of Neverland with only the help of 1/4 of a map.
1. Prologue

A Questing We Go!

**Here it is. And before I forget, the disclaimer:**

**I don't not own Peter Pan or any of the rights. If I did, Michael wouldn't die and Nibs would have gone back to Neverland. (*cough* Geraldine *cough*)**

**Prologue**

If I was to say Neverland was a safe place, well, I couldn't. Not if I wanted to die a horrible death for speaking a lie. People come to Neverland by choice. If no one came by choice, well, it wouldn't be happy place, would it?

So, even if it is a safe haven for some people or a living nightmare for others, it is not in any way harmless. It's just like a real world, besides the fact that you never grow up and there is always something magical happening, and has creatures that could no way ever be accepted on earth. Maybe not even exist either. Well, who knows?

This story takes place in a world as existent as ours, or as false as the dreams we have before we wake up and realize it was never there.

The time was long ago, or it could be taking place right now. You never know because time doesn't exist there like it does here. What we could have been doing for the past few minutes here on earth would feel like a long time or short time there. Wherever it is.

It was a place far away, farther than anyone could ever find or try to find. It could be right above you, below you, in front of you, behind you, or all around you. Even inside you. No one knows since no one ever went there.

Oh, wait! Silly me, someone did go there. I mentioned that, didn't I? People of all shapes, sizes, times, genders, and ages or any other different sorts you can think of entered that place.

Oh, a place it was. Things you could do there that you could never do here.

Neverland. The place where you see the word_ never_ everywhere.

The story I am about to tell you is a very important one. It's about wonders never known of, wonders never seen before. It's about what a person's soul really looks like when they are pushed to the limit of their abilities.

Now, don't go running away, it's not scary. It's a quest. It's full of adventure and fantasy and friendship and action.

But, I guess it can be a bit scary too. But, it depends on what you're doing.

So follow be as I tell you the story and imagine a place that is the most magical, magnificent, exciting, thrilling, exhilarating, dreamlike, sensational, bizarre place you could ever be.

A place called Neverland.

**So, how was it? Don't mind the really confusing part. I was watching the Twilight Zone and it has a strange beginning that makes your mind feel weird. **


	2. The Lost Kids

**Disclaimer: I don't own Peter Pan. Nor am I related to the great J.M. Barrie.**

**Chapter One**

_Oh, so you're here. I see you decided to follow me. Well, I guess you aren't leaving any time soon, so here you go._

_Once, in a place called Neverland, there were Lost Children. Boys and Girls alike. And what did they like to do more than play games. Nothing comes to mind right? _

_They were in the middle of said hide and go seek…_

"You hide too easily." Scoop peered behind the thick curtain of vines that fell from trees you couldn't see the tops of. He pulled them away, his blue twinkling. "I think you hide much too easy to stay in an actual round. Say, about twenty seconds." He entered the vine-room which cast a green light on those inside.

There, two children tried to crouch behind the large rocks that just happened to be there. Unsuccessfully, of course, since Scoop had already spotted them.

"Tag you, So." He reached down to tap the small boy's tan shoulder. "And tag you, Marker."

"So, that's not fair." So stood up in the vine-room pushing away the long plants so he could get a better look at the boy who tagged him. His face looked upset.

"Yeah, it is." Scoop said. "You know the rules, you hide, I wait, I find you, I tag you, and you help me find the others." He crossed his arms. "Right, Marker?"

Marker opened her mouth to answer, but So continued speaking. "So maybe someone else should be the finder."

Marker's annoyance was clear as she glanced at So. "Let's just go find the others. Then, you can tell anyone else if you think you should be the finder." She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Thank you, Marker." Scoop and Marker left the vine-room with So still in their ranting about how unfair this game was. "So who cares what I think; I'm just the shortest. So no one's gonna listen to me." It took him a few minutes to realize that no one was in there listening. He groaned and left the vine-room.

"So they leave, huh?" He punched at the vines hanging from the trees. "So that's exactly what they would do, leave me like that. So, who do they think they are?"

Flint searched for a hiding place. It should have been easy since it was such a large forest, but it wasn't. All the good places were taken.

She lifted a rock. Placing it at the ground next to her, she peered down. Under the rock was a head of wavy blonde hair. Flint sighed to herself. Spot- taken.

"What are you doing? You're supposed to be hiding." The girl lifted her head and looked around her for a second. She lowered her voice down to a whisper. "Why aren't you hiding?"

"I'm_ looking _fora place to hide, Mars." She squinted down to the hole Mars had smuggled herself into. "Do you have enough room in there?"

"Does it look like I have enough room in here?" Her eyebrows lifted. "I'm hardly breathing being in here."

"Just thought I'd ask." Flint grabbed for the rock and started to place it back on Mars' head.

"No, no, no, wait." Mars' hand, through some difficulty, reached up from inside the hole that was about to be placed on her head. "I've gotta breathe, you know."

Flint didn't answer and just left the rock on the hole with a small opening. She walked away, again, trying to find a place to hide.

Creeper winced at the sound of a branch breaking. "And, this is why we shouldn't walk in groups of four." He pulled at his curly black hair that caught on some tree branches.

"Do _not_ tell me what to do." Melody's long curly brown hair spun as she turned around to face Creeper. "Besides, I'm not the one who voted to do this game in the first place. I was thinking of more of a swimming contest."

"I sort of agree with him." Raman's striking blue eyes looked at them both. "I'm pretty sure the point of hide and go seek is to hide by yourself, not with others." He looked at the group. "So, shouldn't we split up?"

"I don't care!" Melody walked off leaving the rest of them behind. "I didn't want to play this stupid game in the first place…"

"Jeez, what a grouch." Wolf stared at the fading figure of Melody. "So, I guess this is where we hide, huh?"

"See you then." Creeper called after her while he searched the trees. He turned to the two other kids standing behind him. "So, I'm going to find a decent tree to hide in, so you guys better split before Scoop finds us."

Raman laughed to himself. He knew they weren't going to get far before Scoop found them. He turned and ran into the greenery. He loved this game.

Wolf's almond eyes glanced around her. She spotted a cave not too far away. She ran towards it not making a sound and hid in it waiting for Scoop to dare and tag her.

"So, your just gonna fly behind me and light up the whole forest, huh?" Snaps glanced at Harmonia in semi-irritation. "You're like a tiny version of the sun. 'Cept, you can talk" Snaps, though bothered by the fairy, really didn't want her to leave. Besides, she was the only company she had as she walked into the wood clearing.

"Well, _excuse_ me for protecting you. If I wasn't, I wouldn't tell you about that tree root that you're about to trip on." The blue-clad fairy defensively crossed her arms.

"What tree root, _aaahh!" _Snaps tripped on the wood in front of her and went falling down on the grass and branches.

"A thank you might be nice." Harmonia flew to Snaps' ears.

"Yeah, thanks." Snaps wiped off the leaves and such stuck to her jeans. "But, I'm pretty sure I've given myself away."

Sure enough, three kids appeared. The tallest one with the blonde hair reached her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Tag you, Snaps."

"Yeah, whatever." She looked up. "Have you found anyone else?"

"Nope. But, I know where they might be." He started to run off.

"Hi, Snaps." Marker's glasses looked slightly smudged. "No hiding place, right?"

"Wrong." Snaps replied. "Harmonia's too glowey."

"_What _did you call me?" Harmonia's eyes opened in fury. Or pretend fury. No one really knew with her. She rolled her eyes and flew from the place to meet her fellow kind.

"So, um, guys. Could you come here for a second?" So's voice came from a few feet away.

At that moment, Scoop came back with Flint, Mars, and Melody. Melody was arguing about the stupidity of the game, Mars was mad about how Flint was much too close to where she was and that she should know that being to close leads you to another person. Flint was talking about how it was just a game and that they should get over it.

Meanwhile, So was pacing the floor growing redder and redder since no one was paying attention to him. _Again._

"Oh, yeah?" Melody was saying. "Well, Creeper's up in that tree and Wolf found her a cave." She looked proud of herself.

There was a flutter of leaves – _Thanks a _lot, _Melody!-_ and Creeper came falling out the tree. Scoop had a smile on his face before he went and looked for Wolf and Raman.

So clenched his fists and took in deep breaths, counting to ten- _Zero, five, three, nineteen, four…_

Scoop returned with Wolf with her arms crossed and Raman who looked wet. He was explaining that he hid in the lake. And how he was happy those mermaids weren't there.

Everyone was talking over everyone else. No one bothered to notice the short boy who was growing more and more agitated. Irritated. Vexed. Mad.

"_Seven, thirty-one ,twenty ,onety-four, TEN!" _So's voice echoed across the forest and several birds flew out of their trees in worry.

"_I COUNTED TO TEN AND YOU GUYS STILL WON'T _SHUT UP!"So was breathing hard and his eyes were filled with anger. 

Flint tried to calm him down. "Now, So, just take a deep breath."

"I _did_ take a deep breath. So, whaddya think I've been doing." So's voice had gone down to a tolerable volume.

"Jeez, So. You know ears can only take up only so much noise." Mars' fingers were plugging her ears.

"So, what I've been trying to _tell_ you is that _this_ came out of thin air. But no one noticed it but me. 'Cause no one notices me!"

In his hand was a small sheet of paper, maybe about the size of a grown man's hand. It was filled with strange markings and was glowing, a strange blue-ish glow.

"What is it?" Raman took a step closer to So.

"It's mine, that's what it is." So clutched the paper-thing closer to his chest. "And no one can have it. Finders keepers."

Marker squinted at it. "It's a map. That's it, a map." Her eyes went wide and she wiped her glasses off with her green shirt. "A real map!"

"A map, _really?" _The previously arguing children were now in conversation on what it could lead them to.

"So, yeah, but it's my map." So's voice came.

Mars ran towards So. Without hesitation, she snatched the map from So and held it in the air where he couldn't reach it. "Good luck with finding anything with it." She dropped it on the ground. "It's not even a full map. Maybe like, less than half."

Something clicked in So's mind. "So, maybe the other parts are around here."

A chorus of yeses and let's find ums went around the cluster of children. So's annoyance started to fade and he talked about how he so amazingly found the part-of-a-real-treasure map. They all agreed that they would find the other pieces, later. The sun was about to set and the two moons were starting to rise. So, they left their game of hide-and-go-seek to their hideout to dream about what might await them.

… _and that's how they found the on-fourth of the treasure map. Of course they'll go looking for it. They aren't skilled kids for nothing, you know._

_So, whatever happened to the other maps, you might be thinking. Like I'm going to tell you. I'm tired and I'll tell you another time. So, just be patient and wait and I might- _might_- tell you what happened next. _

**So, how was that? I added the italicized parts because it's a storyteller telling the story. Come to think of it, she sounds like my Nana. Hmm…**

**I hope that everyone who's characters were in this chapter liked the way I made them. R and R please. The button below calls your name. **


	3. Fairies

**Chapter 2**

_You just won't give up will you? Do you find this very important? It is, but it's amazing you found an interest in this. Well, I'll carry on._

_When Harmonia flew away out of anger, or annoyance, or anything, she didn't just go anywhere. She went home. And, it was certainly a sight there…_

Harmonia looked around her. The sky was as blue as ever. She hadn't meant to leave Snaps as she had, but oh!, she could be so irritating. Not that she minded it. She liked the spark the girl had. She was funny too.

Harmonia crash-landed onto a large flower. There was an explosion of yellow around her. She coughed and stood up, brushing the pollen of her blue shirt and skirt. After that, she flew back up and surveyed her surroundings.

"Why do I always keep doing this?" She tapped her head. "One day, you're going to have to learn that crashing hurts."

She smiled when something bright caught her eye. It was Sunny's Sweet Tooth. Otherwise known as the best bakery shop there was in Pixie Hollow. The best in Neverland for all she knew. With its yellow and purple coloring, it was sure to catch anyone's eye. Like it did hers.

She brushed the remaining bit of pollen off and rose in the air again. She landed carefully (though she did sort of stumble) in near the door. She opened it.

A strong smell of sweets rushed to her. Inside, the place was pretty packed. There were groups talking and laughing and doing whatever it was they were doing. And, of course, some were just eating.

She found herself a place to sit. She rested her head on her hands. She was going to get up and order something, but she just needed to think right now. Or, empty her mind.

"Hello, Harmonia!" A voice said.

Harmonia turned and saw a short fairy waving at her and making her way towards her. She was balancing some object under her left arm.

"Hi, Catena!" She hadn't expected to see her here. But, what was under her arm made her curious. "Do you need help?"

"Nope." Catena shook her head. She used her whole body to try to balance the thing she was holding. "I'm fine, just fine." She sounded out of breath. She cocked her head to the side. "Are you by yourself, or are you waiting for someone?"

"I'm by myself." Harmonia motioned for her to sit down across from her.

Catena walked there and put the object on the table. Did I say "put"? More accurately, she dropped it. The table shook.

Harmonia looked at the object carefully. It was wrapped up so tightly with leaves that she couldn't tell what the shape was supposed to be. "What's in it?"

"I'm about to show you. It's so amazing!" Her bronze face had a tint of red to it.

They sat in silence.

"Are you going to show be, or not?"

"I will, I'm just waiting for Sparks. " Catena shrugged. "You wanna go get something? Chocolate Fig Cake? Or Neverberry Tarts?"

"You invited _Sparks_?" Harmonia leaned in ignoring Catena. She knew all about that pest. He was always causing trouble, wreaking havoc, producing chaos…"

Catena folded her arms. Whatever trace of giddy-ness was gone. She stared at Harmonia, her light blue eyes glared at her. Coldness seemed to seep from her skin. "Sparks is my friend. He doesn't question my friendship with you."

"Sorry." Harmonia said. "She wasn't"

Catena didn't notice and went back to her old self. I'll order a plate of Neverberry Tarts and three slices of Chocolate Fig Cake, and Honey Cider. That sound good?" She didn't even wait for answer before she left to order the meal.

Harmonia sighed. This is just what she needed: an annoying person, but down to size.

In five minutes, Catena returned with the food (with Harmonia's help, since Catena was going to drop all the plates). Catena was just about to take a sip from her Honey Cider when everyone in the bakery heard a loud cracking sound, like a lightning strike. Everyone jumped, save Catena. She put down her drink and smiled. Sparks was here.

Line break.

Sparks made his way to their table. Along the way, he was shocking people (accidental and/or intentional). He sat next to Catena and grinned.

"Hiya, my fellow friends." Harmonia produced a fake smile, and then began to eat her tarts.

"So, watcha got there, Catena?" He reached for the object.

"Hey! I'm unwrapping it!" Catena slapped Sparks hand away. Each recoiled from skin contact.

"Feast your eyes." She unwrapped the covering. She reached in. "Behold!" She paused for dramatic effect. "The geode!"

Sparks clapped. That was a mistake. Sparks of electricity flew everywhere shocking people trying to peacefully eat. The fairies yelled at him to calm down.

Sparks put his hands in the air. "Okay, okay. Sorry." He put his hands down and turned back to his table. "_Not_." He laughed to himself.

Harmonia, not wanting to disappoint her friend, asked with fake curiosity. "So, what does it do?"

Catena looked at her as if it was obvious. "We break it." She turned to Sparks. "Do the honors."

"With pleasure." He rubbed his hands making loud cracking noises.

"STOP!" Harmonia cried.

Catena and Sparks looked up.

"Before Sparks makes the whole place explode, don't you think we should go outside?"

Catena and Sparks shrugged showing that they didn't care how they did it or where they did it, only that they did it.

"Alright." Harmonia took a large sip of her cider and started to walk off. As soon as they reached the door, they flew out. As nice as walking was, flying was much more convenient.

They landed in an open clearing (Harmonia didn't want to take the chance that anything would explode), and they continued from there.

Sparks was above the rock and rubbed his hands together spreading flashes of light shoot from them. "Time to get dangerous."

He rubbed his hands faster and faster until they glowed blue. He placed his hands on the geode.

_BOOM!_

_CRASH!_

_BANG!_

"_Wow!" _(Catena)

"_Aaahh!" _(Harmonia)

The smoke cleared and they were looking at a crater. Half of the geode was left. The rest was gone. The crystals inside the rock had a strange color. Not quite black, but somewhere between purple and blue.

"That. Was. So. _Cool!_" Catena high-fived Sparks and they both got reactions from skin connection. Catena cleared her throat. "And, just for the record, it's my rock."

"Technically, it's sort of mine since I broke it." Sparks said crossing his arms.

"It's just a rock." Harmonia pointed out.

"' _It's just a rock._'" Catena mimicked Harmonia. "But, I like rocks. Rocks are cool. And, it's mine." Catena walked to the rock and picked it back up. She was wobbling, but she didn't ask for any help. She flipped it over, almost dropping it.

"What's that?" She asked it mostly to herself than to anyone else. But, Sparks and Harmonia went to look at it.

There was a piece of paper, probably as tall as them. It was inside the crater that Sparks had created. It was glowing a shade of green. Strange markings were written all over it.

"Where did that come from?" Sparks said aloud voicing everyone's thoughts. No one answered, since no one knew.

They stared at it for a few minutes more.

Suddenly, Sparks reached down and picked it up. It the paper's length was a little shorter than him. He rose to the air and prepared to fly away.

"Hey! That's mine!" Catena cried flying after him.

"I know." Sparks said slowing down. He turned around to look at the girls. "I'm going to my place. If you wanna find out what it is, you shouldn't fall far behind."

Catena grumbled and flew after him leaving cold air as she left.

Harmonia rolled and grumbled. Could her day get any stranger?

… _so they left. To decipher what the paper was? Who knows? How am I to say they weren't stopped along the way?_

_Did I they were stopped? Maybe they were, maybe they were not. You'll have to check by me. I'll tell you, if I'm in the mood._

**Sorry if it seems rushed. Did you notice anything? I'll give you a hint: Disney. **

**Sorry if I didn't introduced all the fairies. I will, but that will be in a future chapter. And, thanks for the reviews. (they made me feel so warm inside :)**


	4. The Indians

**Chapter 3**

_Hello again. Is this interesting? It's just a story. This part focuses on the Indians. Do you wish me to continue? Well, just don't call 'em savages when they can hear you…_

Sparrow Feather took a deep breath and let it out again. This was his chance. He had to, _had to_ show them he was worthy enough to join the hunt. There was no turning back after last time, and since he made it this far, he wasn't just going to back out now.

He raised his bow and stretched it, ignoring the remarks made by his peers behind him. He set his sight on his target and let the bow go flying. It was meant to hit inside the smallest circle- the yellow one. If he made it, he was in. Any lower, he was out. He couldn't let that happen.

It was going, going, going…

_Yes!_ He thought to himself as it reached inside the circle. He smiled and lowered his bow and nodded his head to the rest of the boys behind them who were waiting their turn.

"… just a bit of luck on his side today."

Sparrow Feather turned to the voice and saw an older boy with his arms crossed talking with other boys who had already tried out and passed. He had an angry look on his face, the kind that let you know for certain that it was a bully, and not a friendly person. The kind people would always trust until they saw his true colors.

His name was Sharp Knife, and his name suited him as he always backstabbed you whenever he needed something from you and you wouldn't give it.

Sharp Knife caught Sparrow Feather's gaze and smirked. "Didn't you hear me? You just think you're so lucky, but luck doesn't last forever." He gave him a knowing glance. He was referring to the pirate incident.

Sparrow Feather was a second away from growling. "Too bad you're never lucky. But I'll give you a bit of it. You'll be lucky I don't walk up to you and put your brain where your mouth is supposed to be."

"Ooh. I'm so scared." Sharp Knife threw his hands up in mock fearfulness. "Someone save me! I'm being attacked by a kid who can't keep his two feet on the ground without nearly getting killed." He let his hands drop and he and his buddies laughed.

"I bet you only feel safe because you have people twice your size as your _friends._" Sparrow Feather heard a voice behind him. He saw a girl. She had long black hair and a long brown tunic. But the most striking thing about her was her legs which were wearing bright blue leggings. They gave her a sense of boldness.

That stopped the gangs laughing. "Shut up, Stormy. Maybe you should just get out of business that doesn't concern you."

"But it does concern me." The girl, Stormy, had an air about her that made you want to back away from you, else you'd get hurt. "'Cause we're one _big happy family_, right?"

The gang scowled at her and left, not without muttering a few mean words in her direction.

"Bye!" Stormy raise her hand and waved with a grin on her face.

Sparrow Feather turned and looked at the leaving game, and looked back at the grinning girl with the blue leggings. "Um, thanks, but why?"

"No reason." She answered. "I just like to use energy. 'Sides, I gotta do _something_ to stay unbored."

Sparrow Feather decided not to mention that "unbored" wasn't a word.

"So, who are you?" Sparrow Feather asked.

"Stormy Cloud," she shrugged. "But, I'd prefer just Stormy, if you don't mind."

"Okay." He also muttered his name. "Sparrow Feather." He started to grab his things. "I guess I'll see you around." He began to walk off.

"No you're not." Stormy replied.

Sparrow Feather sighed. Would he ever get rid of her? "No I'm not what?" he asked.

"No, you're not ever going to see me again." She put her hands on her hips and the expression on her face said, "I'm not stupid, you know."

"You're never going to see me again." She continued. "You're just going to stay in your little clique of hunting boys, going off for _long_ periods of time, only coming back to eat some game. I mean, by the time you ever do come back here, you won't even remember my name.

_No._ He thought. _I'm not going to remember a rambling girl in blue tights. Not going to remember that at all._

"So, what do you want me to do?"

"Follow me." She said, her eyes serious. She began to run off.

Sparrow Feather groaned and ran after her. Wherever she was going.

**-the line break's name is Bob-**

One-Who-Jumps-Always, or _Jumpy_, as he liked to be called, hung onto a tree branch with one hand. He was waiting for Stormy. You could never really trust her to be all that reliable since she would _say_ she was leaving for a certain amount of time, but she would come back much,_ much_ later. It was already getting dark.

"Andy?" He looked down toward the older girl lying down on the grass way below him (he was hanging from a tree). Her long black hair was spread across the grass in untidy braids. "ANDY!"

Andy, or _Andromedia_ as she liked to be called, opened one of her eyes. "Don't call me that. I don't like that name."

It was either he couldn't hear her, or he just wanted to provoke her (possibly the latter), he called her again. "Andy, Andy, ANDY!"

"WHAT!" Both of her eyes shot open revealing piercing yellow eyes. Her face, usually soft and kind looking, took on a more pinched appearance of a girl having been rudely awoken from her sleep. As she had.

"Oh, you're up." His eyes opened with surprise as he transitioned to hanging from his legs.

"Of course she's up." A third voice came from the ground. A short girl stood fingering two reeds. "How can anyone sleep when you're shouting?"

"I just wanted to know." Jumpy transitioned back to his hands and started swinging. "What do you think could be keeping Stormy, Tree Reed?"

Tree Reed shrugged.

"What do _you_ think?" Jumpy looked at the irritated girl.

"Knowing her, who knows?" Andromedia stood up and brushed the dirt and grass from her dress and reached for her feathered head band. "Besides, who said we can't just go along without her?"

There was a thick cloud of dirt (Jumpy received a dirty look from Andromedia) as he fell from the tree. He reappeared rubbing his left arm. "What do mean, 'just go along without her'? She's our friend. And," he paused. "She's the one who found it."

"No, let her." Tree Reed crossed her arms. "I've always wanted to see the wrath of Stormy that you always talk about. " She smiled a bit.

A sigh came from Andromedia. "Fine. Just be a wimp." She walked to a tree. She knocked on it twice, and a secret compartment opened up, like a drawer, and inside was a carefully wrapped _thing._ It was pulsing a red glowing color. She brought up to her face and smiled at the two.

"You're gonna regret that, you know." Jumpy said looking around nervously. "Stormy doesn't like it when she's not in something."

"She doesn't care." Tree Reed smirked.

"Oh, give me a break, guys. I'm just going to study it for a few minutes. That's all." She brushed her hair back behind her ear.

**-Bob is very friendly. Sometimes-**

Stormy moved several branches out of her way as she ran silently through the woods. It was getting darker, and cooler. The trees above seemed to block out the light.

Sparrow Feather cleared his throat. "So, um, you know where you're going, right?"

"Yep," came the reply.

"And, you're not lost or anything," Sparrow Feather said between runs. He wasn't scared, but, how was he going to explain to the rest of the guys that he got lost because a young girl was leading him?

An irritated sigh came from Stormy as she slowed down. She turned to face him. "I've gone this route several times. I could walk this way backwards and blindfolded, and I wouldn't get lost." She turned back around and started walking slowly.

"Why did we slow down?"

"Because," she said. "I sense an untrustworthy Woodpecker."

Sparrow Feather didn't bother asking what a Woodpecker was.

"Stand back," she whispered to him. She walked back slowly and started running. Sparrow Feather watched this.

"BOOOO!" Stormy fell on a taller girl who was too busy reading a piece of glowing red parchment to realize she was under attack.

"Get off me! Get off!" Andromedia was struggling to sit up and _breathe_.

"How could you? How dare you?" Stormy's hair flew in tangles. "I thought you said you weren't going to open it _without me!_"

Tree Reed, watching this, put her hand through her hair, and fought a laugh. She started to walk off with Jumpy who's eyes were wide.

"STAY HERE!" Stormy jumped up and put her hands on her hips. Her hair was in tangles and her tan cheeks were red. Her look was wild. She pointed her finger at Jumpy and Tree Reed's direction. She took several deep breaths. Behind her, Andromedia was muttering about how many times her dress was going to get wrinkled, dirty, etc.

"Didn't we have an agreement?" The three nodded.

"And haven't I said before that you never break an agreement?"

More nods.

"Alright." Stormy turned back to Andromedia who was fixing her head band which had lost a feather. "You're lucky you're my best friend, and not Branch Boy there. Otherwise," she made a cut-throat motion with her finger.

"Anyways," She clapped her hands. "We have a visitor." She walked to the forest. "Woodpeckers don't bite, Sparrow Feather."

"Who is it?" Tree Reed whispered to Jumpy. Jumpy said he didn't know.

A taller boy walked towards the clearing. He had a leather bag filled with arrows, and he was holding a bow. His look was very confused, like he just woke up from a day dream. "Hi."

"Hey." Jumpy and Tree Reed said. He nudged Andromedia who mumbled a hello.

"Who are the Woodpeckers?" he asked as he got closer.

"The Woodpeckers is a group of kids who meet together, and we build into a special family." She spread her arms around motioning to the waterfall in the distance, the clear blue river, the several trees, and a wide field of tall grass and flowers.

"Home away from home." Tree Reed added.

"Seems nice." Sparrow Feather scratched the back of his head. "But, where are your parents? Don't they wonder where you go off to every day?"

An uncomfortable silence came.

"Sorry." Sparrow Feather realized he had reached a touchy subject.

"Nope, it's fine." Stormy waved her hand like it was no big deal. "You see, my parents have been dead a long time. I don't really know what happened. So, instead of getting adopted by a half-loving family, I come and go as I please." She smiled. "I answer to no one."

Tree Reed shrugged. "My parents don't notice if I leave or if I stay." She looked up at Sparrow Feather. "I find this place nice to be."

Sparrow Feather turned to Jumpy. Jumpy cocked his head to the side, thinking. "I dunno why I come here. I think it's just fun."

Andromedia was next. She wrung her hands up. "Well, you can't expect me to be inside a tent looming all day like a perfect Lady, now can you?"

Stormy walked away while Andromedia was talking and picked up the wrapped red-glowing parchment. She cleared her throat. "Well, now that we're all here," she turned and smiled at Sparrow Feather. "And new people, I will now open this up." She unwrapped it and threw the wrapping onto the ground. She held a red paper with strange markings and drawing on it.

Sparrow Feather's eyes went wide. "It's a map."

"It's a treasure map!" Jumpy said getting closer. "Do you reckon it's a pirate map?"

"Who knows?" Stormy breathed staring at it intently. "But look. There's the Mermaids Lagoon. And that's Skull Rock. And that's…"

"Our village." Andromedia breathed. "Do you think that's where we start?"

"I don't know," Tree Reed said. "How do you know it isn't dangerous?"

Stormy smiled. "I say, let's face danger. I mean, we get to go on an _adventure_. A real one." She looked around at the group. "I'm game whether you are or not."

"I'm game." Jumpy looked like he was about to go and snatch the map for himself.

"I guess so." Andromedia mumbled.

Tree Reed rolled her eyed. "I don't want to get left out."

"It's all up to you now, Newbie." Jumpy looked at him, eyebrows raised. "Are you up for it?"

Sparrow Feather nodded. "As long as it doesn't interfere with hunting."

"Alright!" Stormy grinned. "We start tomorrow."

… _and there you have it. The side of the Indians. Brave people. Not all that careful, but brave. _

_But, Tree Reed was right. It could be dangerous. And it could happen soon._


End file.
